Faith

One of the great scenes in all of Scripture is the conversation between Jesus and Peter in John 21. Pastor Mike Bickle in a powerful sermon (2014) presented a compelling interpretation of this encounter. To set the background, Peter was despondent and humiliated after he denied knowing Jesus three times, even though he had adamantly declared just a few hours earlier that he would be loyal to the end and die with Jesus. To that heartfelt but foolish demonstration of bravado, Jesus calmly and lovingly predicted Peter’s denial, and demonstrated a foundational servant leader love-based principle: that life is not a sprint but a marathon of peaks and valleys. Jesus embraced the long-term developmental perspective. In Luke 21:31–34, Jesus informs Peter that the crucifixion is the crucible of a transformational life experience test. Satan’s plan was to use Peter’s denial as the powerful sifting device to destroy Peter’s faith by using fear, shame, and regret, and thereby destroying his leadership confidence and credibility. Jesus responded with the love of a shepherd and stated that he was praying that Peter’s faith would not fail and Peter would respond to the failure by learning from the situation and growing in servant leader character, humility, and faith. In essence, what Jesus stated was that Peter’s leadership calling was irrevocable, and that he viewed those distressing events as tests that were necessary life experiences to prepare Peter for effective service and leadership.